I put together a compilation of some overlooked and/or underrated songs for the good peoples over at Passion Of The Weiss. Not meant as a comprehensive overview or a best of anything, just a bunch of random enjoyable tracks that mostly went under the radar. Full tracklist and dl link are below, please go read the fully annotated write up over on P.O.W.
Emcee Jermaine – Crazy 88
Flatbush ZOMBiES – Gucci Gucci
Troy Ave – Motion Picture
Shady Blaze – Machine Gun Spit
Western Tink – Practice Looking Hard Jr. Ft Shady Blaze
Hail Mary Mallon – Table Talk
Rittz – When The Sun Goes Down Ft. Starlito
Silky Johnson – Fast Life Instrumental
Danny Brown – Cartier Glasses
AZ & Cormega – murder on the daily
Yelawolf – Shit I’ve seen Ft Trae the truth
Ethereal – Recovery RMX ft. Micah Freeman and Opio
Zilla – Like A Jungle Ft Clova and Bentley
Marq Spekt & Kno – All Smiles (Plastic Mask)
ShowYouSuck – All Chill Everything
LG – Kool & The Gang Ft. Bonka
KD – Let Me Ride ft. Freddie Gibbs
The Outfit – The D-Funk Era
Davinci – Pangea
Sleepy Brown – You’re My Lady
Our friends at Purple Tape Pedigree run a bitchin rap radio show called Fresh Out The Box, which happens every Thursday via BBOX radio. I had the honor of guesting on two few episodes so far, here is my most recent appearance. Lots of good music was played, year-end lists and fine meats and cheeses were discussed, and we randomly drank some wine from plastic cups. You should give it a listen, and don’t sleep on their other episodes, especially the XMAS one. I will be returning there again tonight, so listen to that too.
For the past week we’ve seen a bunch of people tackle this album. Writers these days take themselves way too seriously. That or they have these agendas in writing these reviews just to grab a few hits and if they’re lucky maybe a couple of RTs. I’m not a writer. I’m a simple man, I like my beans and rice. We live in a world that is quite simple if you ask me. It’s black, it’s white. It’s good, it’s bad. It’s hot, it’s cold. It’s yes or no. These definitive answers shape who we are.
There is no need to string together a wordy review that only serves as self-indulgent drivel just to deliver one adjective in describing Undun.
We’ve been spoiled for practically two decades now with progression, not regression from The Roots crew. We want Malik B. We miss Len Hub. We want more N.T. collabos. We want more Black Thought verses. We want lengthier tracks and albums; [insert Elaine] yada yada yada.
Let’s be specific (peace Funkmaster Flex), the other day I dropped my 10 most underrated rappers of 2011, so it only made sense to drop my best rapper too. This isn’t an all-time list, it’s current and I could only award this to a rapper who is, well current. Andre 3000, you might be on another level and universally accepted as the greatest rapper living and who am I to disagree? You are, but these once every few years cameos on these bullshit R&B tracks ain’t cutting it.
It ain’t Jay, shame on you for even thinking that. It isn’t his apprentice Mr. Electronica, who by the way he should be dropping his once-a-year track in December to continue giving your iTunes blue balls. His lack of new material and a Saigon(ish) career pattern is not helping matters. I can you assure you it’s nobody who would rock a smedium t-shirt. Nobody that you would consider a hipster or vegan. It isn’t a new radical skater. It isn’t lazy self-absorbed artists who continues to produce lo-fi albums for your listening displeasure.
Who does it leave then? Nas, maybe, but we all know he lost a step or two over the years. Could it be Jada? Sure, Jadakiss is like the New York Jets, he looks great on paper but when it comes down to business he can’t close and I’m still waiting on that great album from him. So the argument could come down to Pusha and the man who I awarded it to. Pusha is just getting better with age, but when you see who is #1 it’s hard to dispute facts.
Maybe 2012 will be different but there isn’t a rapper IMO who has deliverer quality time and time again than this man. I hate the word swag, so I will just say this man’s style is just too damn cool. It sounds effortless like the way DOOM spits, but it’s extremely layered with witty lyricism and tons of rewind material If the Dos Equis guy was a rapper he’d be this one. –Philaflava
Click to see who is the best rapper of 2011. (more…)
We’re still a few months away from the year closing out, but we all know the 4th Q is usually for big names, big labels and even bigger releases. This list is about 10 rappers who have been grindin’ for years. True lyricists who each put in work year in year out and still seem to lack the appreciation they rightfully deserve. This isn’t an all-time list, it’s just a group of 10 rappers I feel are currently underrated, unappreciated and warrant the recognition.
Hip-Hop has been good to us these past years. With the emergence of Big K.R.I.T., Danny Brown, Freddie Gibbs, French Montana, Action Bronson, Tyler The Creator, Fashawn, Pill, Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire, Blu, Elzhi, G-Side, ASAP Rocky, Curren$y & Roc Marciano just to name a few, we’ve had to double up on our hard drive space.
There are always going to be rappers with strong co-signs, better geographical residency or those who lean on friends and favors for that mass appeal. I wanted to put together a list of 10 active emcees that all deserve your attention and in my opinion are truly underrated.
So without further ado, here are my 10 Most Underrated Emcees of 2011.
Over the next couple months here on SteadyBloggin, I’ve decided to choose an underappreciated topic for each letter A-through-Z, and explain why it should be deserving of your attention. Because there are so many reasons to listen to rap, and unfortunately some of them go unnoticed.
B is for Beatboxing.
Remember when you played on your high school basketball team? Remember before, and after the game, when you couldn’t listen to music in the locker room because no one had a stereo? Luckily, there was always the one teammate that kept everyone entertained through his ability to create a beat with his mouth. He usually wasn’t the best athlete, probably wasn’t the team captain, but always kept everyone in high spirits after a loss, and certainly had an important spot on the team.
Everyone who can identify with that situation can understand how invaluable beatboxing is.
A few weeks ago I caught the video Freaks And Geeks and was really impressed by the talents of Donald Glover, actor, comedian and rapper. Don’t get it twisted though, he’s been rapping longer than he’s been doing his Community thing. Troy Barnes maybe the only thing you know him as, but Childish Gambino (his moniker came from Wu-Tang name generator) is somebody you should definitely watch out for. –Philaflava
10 Reasons Why Childish Gambino Is Better Than Drake
10. Because he does Drake better than Drake and doesn’t even need auto-tune.
9. Because he has been rapping waaaaaaaaaay longer than he was doing sitcoms (like Drake).
8. Because he dropped his first album in 2008, while Drake dropped his in 2010.
7. Because he you can tell he is very serious about his craft and sincere about his lyrics. He may swag it up, but there is just as much swag as there is self-deprecation going on.
6. Because he knows who Odd Future is and likes them!
5. Because Drake is so damn easy to hate.
4. Because the name Donald Glover doesn’t sound a faggy as Aubrey Graham.
3. Because he is the closest we’ll ever get to being near Alison Brie’s sweater puppies.
2. Because he is a much better actor than Drake. Community > Degrassi all damn day.
1. Because he isn’t Canadian.
Over the next couple months here on SteadyBloggin, I’ve decided to choose an underappreciated topic for each letter A-through-Z, and explain why it should be deserving of your attention. Because there are so many reasons to listen to rap, and unfortunately some of them go unnoticed.
A is for Andre 3000.
Andre isn’t the most underrated or unnoticed in the game, I’ll admit that. But he is definitely underappreciated, and he was always the more talented member of one of the best duos of all time.
Because first, you have the albums. Between six full length records you don’t have to dig much deeper than Outkast’s debut single Players Ball to hear Andre outshine his counterpart, as the performances on the song, along with the rest of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, foreshadow the remainder of the group’s catalogue. And that’s not to say Big Boi isn’t skilled in his own right, because he is, and in a lot of groups he would be the better rapper. Just not in this one.
Everyone’s new favorite emcee of ’07 finally decided to put out an album without that low-fi crap and poorly mixed (in some cases unmixed) tracks. I guess 2011 is the year of the little too late releases (see Saigon). We waited 4 years to get 3 tracks from Blu? Thank god for Fashawn. –Philaflava
Blu – Amnesia
Release Date: February 15th, 2011
Los Angeles MC/producer Blu has earned widespread acclaim for his collaborations with Exile, Ta’Raach, and Mainframe, and is currently at work on his major label debut for Warner Brothers. While fans wait, New World Color is happy to announce a digital EP (also available on limited edition 10″ vinyl) featuring music from Blu’s love-themed concept album Her Favorite Colo(u)r, as well as previously unheared material.
The 7-track EP, titled Amnesia, is sure to please Blu’s burgeoning fanbase. On tracks like the HFC standout “Amnesia” and the never-before-released “Amnesia(Rewind)”, the SoCal native explores the complexities of love and relationships while his own understated production sets the mood. The collection also features previously-unavailable instrumentals, showcasing Blu’s skills behind the boards. Amnesia goes digital on February 15th, just in time for Valentine’s day, and the collectible 10″ vinyl version hits stores shortly after, on March 1st. A full release of HFC is set for this spring.
Tracklisting
Side A
1. Amnesia(Original)
2. Amnesia(Instrumental)
3. Amnesia(Remind)
4. Amnesia(RewindInstrumental)
Side B
1. Since(Original)
2. Since(Instrumental)
3. GoodMorning
Almost a year’s worth of impossibly high expectations has been met and exceeded. Simply put, this is a great album. You need to hear it.
You can stream the whole thing below, and underneath that you can find some bonuses: a song that didn’t make the album, a video for Relaxin’, plus a few rambling subjective thoughts about the album from yours truly.
